There are a number of storage boxes on the market employed to protect digital and analog media. Compact discs, audio cassette tapes, video tape cassettes, laser discs, computer disks, and the like objects all require some type of storage box for protection.
The compact disc storage box embodies the state of the art of such storage boxes and for this reason, the following sets forth a description of such art as it relates to one embodiment of the invention. However, it should be noted that by simply changing the dimensions of the instant invention, any object described above can be used with the instant invention and is deemed within the scope of this invention.
Compact discs are readily available to the public for use as read only memory devices for computer systems (CD-ROM) and, more abundantly, as a substitute for conventional phono-records. The compact disc (CD) revolutionized the music industry by nearly eliminating conventional phono records within 5 years of commercial introduction. Compact discs are known to provide high quality sound reproduction unmatched by electro-mechanical phono-recording. Additional benefits are based upon the relatively thin structure of the compact disc with a diameter of less than 5 inches. The surface of the compact disc is a durable coating covering a photosensitive material that can be interpreted through the coating by laser beam modulation.
Compact discs are commercially packaged in plastic enclosures to prevent damage during shipping and/or storage. To this end the industry has adopted, and the consumer has accepted, a thin planar compact disc storage box as the industry standard for protecting the disc from dust, dirt, scratches, fingerprints, and the like damaging elements. The compact disc storage box is a hard plastic case having a hinged cover with an internal support base which clamps the disc in a secured position. However, while compact disc storage boxes store the individual discs, stacking the storage boxes creates an unmanageable pile that is difficult to maintain or procure a particular selection. For instance, if twenty compact disc storage boxes are placed in a stacked position, the removal of a single storage box near the bottom of a pile will cause the remainder of the pile to tip over or fall out of alignment.
Conventional compact disc storage boxes do not interlock so a typical device used for maintaining the storage boxes in alignment is a cabinet having at least two tightly fitting sides and a back wall. However, placement of compact disc storage boxes within such a cabinet makes removal difficult if the sides of the storage box cannot be grasped.
For this reason, a variety of storage containers are now available presenting various devices to allow ease of access to the compact disc storage box while maintaining some form of order to an accumulation. U.S. Pat. No. 5,097,946 issued to Emrich discloses a cabinet for compact disc storage boxes using a plurality of sleds. U.S. Pat. No. 4,960,205 issued to Wang discloses a storage device in which compact disc storage boxes are slid in and out of a cabinet employing vertical slots. U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,345 issued to Drake et al., discloses a storage device in which compact disc storage boxes are slid in and out of a cabinet using horizontal slots. U.S. Pat. No. 4,678,245 issued to Fouassier discloses a spring biased device in which compact disc storage boxes are slid in and out of a cabinet on horizontal rails. Fouassier utilizes an integrated latch means incorporated into a side wall in combination with individual spring assembles for release of a stored box.
Still other devices are known to exist that use various types of springs such as molded plastic spring tabs to maintain the compact disc storage box in a biased position wherein removal is assisted by use of the spring tab. However, besides the costly manufacture and assembly of current devices, a problem with conventional spring biased compact disc storage containers becomes apparent upon improper insertion of a compact disc storage box, i.e. pushing the storage box too far into the container. The result is irreparable damage to the biasing portion of the device. Further, the use of molded plastic biasing springs have limited life and eventually lead to poor operating characteristics, and since damaged plastic molded springs cannot be replaced, portions of the storage device will become inoperable.
Thus, the problem to which the instant invention is directed is based upon the need for a low cost storage device capable of orderly stacking compact disc storage boxes within an existing cabinet using a biasing means that is inexpensive and easily replaced if damaged. While efforts have been made toward effectively and simply resolving these problems, no satisfactory solution has heretofore been provided. It is, therefore, to the effective resolution of these problems that the present invention is directed.